Tenshi
by poison-hearts-xo
Summary: Haku's last thoughts as he lay dying. Please review.


I.

The pain was like nothing he'd ever felt before. It stole the very breath from his lungs and he felt as though he were dying all over again. It burned in his veins like his blood was on fire. And then suddenly, it was bliss.

Beneath him he could see Zabuza, lying beside him on the ground. He watched as his own chest ceased to rise and fall, and knew it was the end. With his last bit of chakra, the boy created snow.

It fell all over his master, and tried to linger on his lips, willing him to breathe. Slowly his vision faded to black.

Haku drifted in and out of consciousness. He was weak, but his muscles were tense, and he found himself unable to move. A new growth on his back unfolded and carried him upward, away from his master. He pleaded to descend, to land on the ground where it was easier to breathe, and to be with Zabuza. He struggled to regain control of his breath and failed. Everything was dark.

Far beneath him, Zabuza stirred. Kunai and subtle bumps from displaced bones protruded from his torso, and he draped an arm over his servant as he closed his eyes for the last time.

Tears filled the boy's eyes. He could no longer see the dying scene below him. He felt the thunder all around him, and called out to his master one last time. It was stifled by the sound of crashing clouds, and from his tears came the rain.

Zabuza was out of sight now, swallowed by the clouds invading Haku's line of vision. The rain slowed as the steady stream of saltwater from the teenager's cheeks thinned, then intensified.

Lightning struck somewhere in the distance. With all his strength he defied the force carrying him upward, and halted briefly before beginning a gradual descent. "Zabuza!"

And he was there. Only for a moment, Haku stood on the ground beside his master. He reached out a hand to touch the man's face, and he was gone.

His wings struggled against his will, a conflict between the freedom of spirit and the captivity of physical self. But he didn't want to be free. "Zabuza." His voice was barely a whisper. The storm stopped, and the tears took over once more.

He was lost inside himself. The pain had returned, and with growing intensity. No longer could he feel physical hurt, but the loss of Zabuza overwhelmed him. Never again would they be together.

II.

In a way, he was happy, for perhaps Zabuza felt the same. Perhaps his master felt he could not live without his companionship, and would have been unable to carry on after the death of someone so close. He smiled to think this, though he knew it would never be the truth. Zabuza would have found a new servant and continued his work with or without Haku. A tear slid down his cheek and fell from his chin and onto the earth below. From the contact point of this single tear, a flower bloomed, and its petals were carried away by the wind that was born from Haku's shuddering breaths.

He had been completely alone. His master had saved him, given him purpose. But he had failed, and how he had no way of repaying him for all that he'd done. He reached for a kunai.

Blood ran from his chest and fell in large drops to the ground.

"Haku."

He had witnessed the death of his only friend. Friend. He smiled at the word. He had never before considered his servant his friend. Haku had given everything to him, and Zabuza would never forgive himself for that. He had no means to apologize, as he was certain the boy had gone to a different place than he, and was the cause of the drastically altering weather that had occurred just before he'd taken in his last breath. Their bodies were together, now, lying on a dock somewhere in the Hidden Mist Village, his one arm wrapped protectively around his servant's body.

He had no chakra, and was unable to lift a finger. He would stay here and endure this pain, this eternal fire that burned from within him, without complaint. Only his lips could still move, and from them came a single word.

"Haku."

The tears came. Haku fell on his chest, arms folded around his head and hands buried in tangled locks of thick, dark hair. "Oh, Zabuza! I'm so sorry. I have failed you." The youth's chest shook violently as he sobbed, grabbing fistfulls of his clothes and tugging at them longingly. "I'd give up anything to be with you again!"

A single saltwater tear twisted its way down Zabuza's face. "Thank you, my faithful servant. I do not doubt that you think you've failed, but you are wrong. I owe you my life." He didn't completely understand why he felt the need to speak these words; it were not as though Haku could hear them. Perhaps there remained a blind part of him that believed it possible, though in his rational mind he knew it was not so. Despite all this, he spoke. "You were everything to me. Now I understand. Your dreams were mine. You gave me everything and asked for nothing in return. My only regret is that I had not done the same for you."

III.

He realized he was nothing. Just a pawn in a game, winner take all. He was overcome by a feeling of emptiness, the realization that he didn't matter. Zabuza had created a false environment in which to bring him up in. One in which he was wrongfully loved.

He stopped his ascent to the heavens. His body had time to regenerate some chakra, and he fought against his wings to reach the place where Zabuza lay.

Zabuza looked up. Before him were two outstretched wings of feathers and down, which closed around his back. He felt two small hands grip his shoulder blades, and the boy's hot breath in his ear. "It's going to be okay, Zabuza, we're together now."

He went numb. Out of habit, he laid his head on the child's shoulder.

The boy felt complete. He held his master's head to his chest and sighed gently, a tear sliding down his face and landing in Zabuza's dark hair. Their fingers intertwined.

"Are you alright, master?"

"This place. It burns me, Haku."

"I don't understand."

He pressed a gentle kiss to the teenager's collarbone. "You wouldn't understand."


End file.
